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With the coveted home town hero visit on the line, four became three tonight on the “American Idol” results show.

But before their fate was revealed the foursome kicked the show off with a snoozy version of “California Dreamin”” by the Mamas and Papas.

Then, we got down to business, or so we thought. First up, double P as Ryan said. Jimmy called Phillip’s performance the beginning of Phillip coming into his own. But Ryan didn’t reveal a thing. He told Phillip to return to “the couch,” but said, those are not the results. Which means what?

Next up was Hollie, who struggled on her second showing last night. Jimmy understood why the judges were okay with Hollie’s Journey showing, but he didn’t agree. And of her Bonnie Raitt performance, Jimmy said, “she hit the opera button” and “crashed and burned.” But still, the torture for us and them continued as she too was sent back to the couch.

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Oley Valley School Board passed a tentative budget for the 2012-13 school year Wednesday night, but board members are still looking for any possible places to cut.

“I will support this tonight, but I am not pleased with certain aspects of the budget,” board member Ralph C. Richard said. “We still have some work to do, but we’ll get the proposed budget on the docket as we move to get a final budget.”

The $28.21 million budget includes a 0.4013 mill increase, which would bump the tax rate to 24.5563 mills. The annual tax bill on a property assessed at $100,000 would be about $2,456.

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The budget outlook in the Reading School District isn’t good, but it’s not quite as bad as originally advertised, district officials said Wednesday night.

The Reading School Board held a public budget meeting at Reading High School, providing the dozens of parents, teachers, students and others who attended an update on the 2012-13 budget and a chance to speak about potential cuts.

From the outset, administrators and board members challenged the picture painted by former administrators – eight of whom were fired two weeks ago – that the district is facing a $53 million budget shortfall.

The owner of the planned Shop Smart Buy Smarter grocery has spent more than $1 million on the building at 1626 Perkiomen Ave. and wants to open a 38-seat restaurant that’s in the same building but separate from the store.

To do that, state law says he needs City Council’s OK to transfer an out-of-town liquor license to the restaurant.

But city officials and neighbors told council at a hearing Wednesday that they don’t need yet another liquor outlet in the area that’s already got plenty of taverns.

John Updike giving the 2008 Jefferson Lecture for the National Endowment for the Humanities. Found via USAsearch.gov]. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The John Updike Society has signed an agreement to buy for $200,000 the late author’s childhood home in Shillington, Pa.

James Plath, president of the 250-member society, said in a press release Wednesday that the agreement is contingent upon receiving a zoning variance to operate the house as a historic site.

Updike lived in the two-story home at 117 Philadelphia Ave. for the first 13 years of his life before moving to a family homestead in Plowville.

The author, who died in 2009, was heralded for his literary style and prolific output, including the four “Rabbit” novels, which often evoked Berks County places and geography. The last two, “Rabbit is Rich” in 1981 and “Rabbit at Rest” a decade later, won Pulitzer Prizes for fiction.

Christina Aguilera has apologized to The Voice contestant Tony Lucca for being a little more catty than judge-like. That however may not be enough to save the diva, who is reportedly disliked by many crew members working at the show.

Christina Aguilera and Tony Lucca are both former “Mickey Mouse Club” stars, but long lost history didn’t seem to go far between the two, who kept up a steady back and forth battle during season two of The Voice.

After Lucca’s Monday night performance of “99 Problems” Aguilera charged that the singer’s song pick was “derogatory towards women” adding “if that’s what you have to do.” Later when her own contestant Michael Kiwanuka performed, she remarked “Now that’s how a real man sings.”